Alumni Spotlight: Jeanette Ormond & Jill Ormond Whitaker

Jeanette Ormond (’02 MBA) and Jill Ormond Whitaker ('99, Communication) were selected to travel to Washington D.C. this past June to participate in the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Global Race for the Cure. The mother-daughter team has been involved with raising money for cancer research for years, and they won a contest sponsored by New Balance Shoes for the trip to Washington. New Balance produced a video about the experience available on YouTube.

“The race was amazing,” says Jill who was in awe running past all the monuments in the historic city, “but even better to share that experience with each other.” The race included people from all over the globe and had about 50,000 participants. Jill and Jeanette each submitted a video to New Balance about why the Race for the Cure was important to them, and Jill’s was selected as the winner with the hope that her ‘plus 1’ could be her mom.  “I wouldn't have dreamed of taking anyone else,” she says.

This is an important issue to the Ormond family; Jeanette is a 2-time cancer survivor and just passed 5 years of being cancer free. In addition, her mother, grandmother, aunt and nephew have all battled against cancer, and it has only strengthened the family’s resolve to fight. Both women have been heavily involved with fundraising to search for better cures and prevention methods. Jeanette has served on her community’s Relay for Life committee for the last 4 years and Jill ran the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in November 2008 with Team in Training, raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Jeanette has worked at SUU since 1987 in the Administrative Systems department, and is amazed at the progress she has seen in her tenure at the school. “I’m truly honored to be a part of it,” she says. Jill grew up with her mother working at SUU. This lead Jill to attend SUU and eventually work there herself as the school’s Webmaster since 2001.

Jeanette and Jill continue to support finding a cure. Jill is running the Las Vegas Rock 'n’ Roll Half Marathon in December to raise money for the Komen Foundation.